“Calling all passengers, next stop is Ponyville!”
As soon as the train arrived at the platform and the doors slid open, ponies stepped out into the cool spring air. Already standing outside the train were several ponies. Most waited patiently to get on to travel further south, with a few others waiting for friends and loved ones who had arrived.
It was spring break, and the start of the holidays was always busy on the trains and the stations. As the sea of ponies from the coaches ended, a few ponies on the platform began to step forward to enter the coaches themselves, except one that realised one more passenger was making their way out.
Gallus finally got a taste of the open air as he reached the coach’s door and saw the ponies on the platform step aside so he could leave. The crowded coach was so stuffy that his wings instinctively stretched out in relief, even if they brushed against the ponies standing nearby. Had it not been slower for the griffon to fly from Canterlot, he wouldn’t have bothered with the train.
He stood on the platform, watching the crowd move briskly and decrease in numbers. “All aboard, next stop, Ghastly Gorge!” Called the train conductor, followed by a sharp whistle blow; moments later, the train departed.
With the platform much quieter, Gallus scanned the area. He remembered the place when it was winter, saying goodbye to his friends as he had to return to the Academy. But returning to the present, there was no one he recognised.
He furrowed his brow. He was sure they knew he’d be coming. Scythe told Yona when the Academy broke up for spring and included Gallus’ note for him arriving in Ponyville. Perhaps they forgot, but they’ve not been in touch for the last few months.
In his backpack, Gallus reached in and took out a set of pink sealed envelopes bound together by a string like it was a present. On one side of the bundle was a red rubber stamp with the word “RELEASED” and the logo for the E.U.P. Guard on top.
On the other side were Gallus’ name and the address of the Royal Guard Academy written on one of the envelopes, written in black ink with a sharpened feather quill. Silverstream’s handwriting was elegant and cursive, with little curls on the tails of her capital letters. Gallus smiled half, glad he could still recognise those details after all that time.
Yet a part of him felt tempted to know what was inside the envelopes, see what Silverstream wrote to him. She might have responded to one or two of his letters or written something about when she shouted “I love you” months ago.
He remembered in her last letter that she asked him to hold onto them, especially not to open them. He snuck one of his claws into a small opening in one of the corners of the bottom envelope in a pile. All it would take was to unravel the binding and open one of the envelopes to read what was inside.
Instead, he shook the curious thoughts out of his mind. At that moment, there was something more important to do. If his friends aren’t here to see him, he will go to see them.
It was a short flight from the train station to Sandbar’s family residence; Gallus knew it was the easiest to find, even in lousy weather. It was by the river, with orchid-coloured walls, next to a wooden shed where Sandbar and his dad kept their surfboards.
Once outside the front door, Gallus knocked twice and waited patiently. All Gallus had to prepare for was who would appear from the other side of the door. He figured Sandbar’s parents would be the kindest and most patient; they were remarkably chill ponies and happy having close friends over. Sandbar had the same chill vibes from his parents, but Gallus couldn’t be sure how well he took the lack of letters, especially considering how close Yona, his worst-case scenario, was.
Eventually, he heard the door click and open inwards. On the other side, he saw a pale green earth pony, full-grown but younger. It was Sandbar.
“Hey…” Gallus introduced himself, holding his backpack with one claw and sporting an uplifting smile.
However, he didn’t expect Sandbar’s wide eyes and the sudden steps further inside his own home. “Hey… dude.” Sandbar answered with a slight confusion. Then there was silence, Sandbar looked down and to the side while rubbing the back of his head, not sure what to say. Meanwhile, Gallus’ smile slowly faded, realising the reunion wouldn’t be as smooth as he hoped.
“So… How’s it going?” Sandbar finally mustered.
“Well, the Academy is on break, and I was in the area, so I was wondering….”
“GALLUS!” a sudden young girly elated voice called out from inside the building, causing both Gallus and Sandbar to jump in surprise. As Sandbar turned around, recognition dawning on him, Gallus felt something clasp his right arm.
Gallus raised his arm to his eye level and found Coral had whizzed past his older brother and was now hanging off Gallus’ arm with a massive smile on her face. “Hey there, you little monkey,” Gallus responded. He was glad at least somepony in Ponyville were happy to see him.
“Hey Gallus, I don’t have school ‘cus I’m on break,” said Coral, lightly swinging on the griffon’s arm, inches from his beak. “Are you on break too?”
“Yep, something like that.”
“That means you can stay over, right?” she asked gleefully.
“I can if that’s not a problem.” The two looked towards Sandbar, the tiny pony pleading with her beady ocean-blue eyes. Gallus had an apologetic smile, making it clear that Coral’s emotional guilt wasn’t his intention.
Deep down, Gallus didn’t mean any harm, even if there were doubts in his mind, not to mention the impossible task of saying no to Coral’s adorable begging eyes. He took a deep breath and smiled.
“Of course, come in.”
They made their way to the living room; Gallus almost forgot how simple and quaint it was with its fireplace and purple satin sofas. With gentle persuasion, Coral had let go of Gallus’ arm to return to a scattered set of papers and crayons whilst Sandbar and Gallus sat on the sofa.
The living room hadn’t changed much from the last time Gallus was in here; the Hearth’s Warming decorations were gone, but the wooden floorboards, lit fireplace, exposed beams and warm pink walls with pictures of mountains and oceans hanging off them.
Although it was quiet, uncomfortably so, the only sound in that living room was the loud ticking of a nearby clock. Someone had to break the silence, and since Coral was busy drawing fish, Sandbar was rubbing his hooves together deep in thought as if finding an excuse to escape. It was up to Gallus to speak up.
“So, what have you been up to?” he asked clumsily, scratching the back of his head. “I, uh, have some catching up to do.”
“I uh… I’ve finished my training. I’m a certified lifeguard now.”
It worked. “That’s awesome!” Gallus said excitedly, the first bit of good news he’d heard in months.
Sandbar reciprocated with a smile. “Yeah, I work at the lake near the School of Friendship, but I’m looking at seaside work near the summer.”
“No surprises there,” Gallus remarked with a smirk. “Any place in mind?”
“Well, I have a few places in mind, but I can’t go too far, Yona’s homesick, and I don’t want to leave her alone.”
Gallus paused for a moment. He remembered the last time speaking with Yona, how she didn’t like being far away from her family in Yakyakistan.
He thought about what Sandbar could do; his limited knowledge of Equestria’s geography didn’t help, but he knew most of the seaside resorts are in the east and south: Horseshoe Bay, Fillydelphia, Las Pegasus. It was doubtful that there would be much work close to the oceans near Yona’s home nation. They don’t call it the frozen north for anything.
Although, he also remembered her bringing up Fashion Week and her uncertainty about participating even if it could bolster her career. It gave Gallus an idea. “Would one of those places be Manehatten?” He suggested, “Working there might help you both”.
Sandbar rubbed his chin in contemplation but didn’t answer. The sudden lack of a smile indicated to Gallus that he might have bridged a tricky subject. “How long are you staying in Ponyville for, by the way?” the pale green pony changing the subject abruptly.
“Just a few days, then I’m spending a week away on an Academy Adventure before coming back for a bit.” Gallus promptly answered, leaving out a gap in his plan. “…you know, if I have a place to stay.” Considering his options, the lack of a welcome meant the sofa bed at Silverstream’s was unlikely, so a bed at the Ponyville Inn seemed the best option. Staying at Sandbar’s seemed doubtful with how distant he was being.
“You can stay here!” Coral blurted out, taking the other two by surprise. “We have a spare bed for friends, don’t we, Sandy?”
She looked gleefully towards Sandbar with the same pleading eyes. “Yep, we sure do.” Sandbar answered with restraint and a fake grin, mildly frustrated at the difficulty of refusing.
While he wasn’t the only one showing frustration, Gallus had enough of it. “How about you stop dancing around this? If you’re mad at me, you don’t have to hide it,” he said.
“I’m not mad,” hastily refuted Sandbar but was met with a tired look of doubt. “I mean, the girls aren’t happy with you, but… I knew you’d get in touch eventually; you wouldn’t stop talking to us without good reason.”
Gallus felt a slight relief. He knew Sandbar was more chilled and understanding. It would partially explain the discomfort, trying to remain on good terms with Gallus and everyone else.
“Though it’s not the first time you’ve left us in the dark.”
Although Sandbar’s sentence was muffled behind his hoof, Gallus heard it clearly as his feathered ears perked up. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he snapped.
“Remember when you showed up in the middle of the night, days before you were to start at the Academy? We hadn’t seen you since graduation, yet when I asked what you’ve been up to, all you asked was if it was a good idea to sign up.” Sandbar reminded Gallus, and the memories of that stormy night came flooding back as Gallus grabbed his arms tightly and shuffled in his seat. “Something was bothering you, but you’ve never talked about it.”
“I just had doubts, that’s all”, Gallus gave as his excuse.
“Doubts from where?” Gallus didn’t answer, instead shuffling further away from Sandbar. The pony heaved a sigh, realising it was the same problem as last time. “Dude, this is what I mean. Sure, I don’t like talking about being the social outcast growing up and then being made fun of for the friends I do have….”
Gallus’ head turned slightly; Sandbar caught his attention. “…I know that if it bothers me, I’d tell someone, even if it’s one of my best friends. It’s better than keeping it to myself, right?”
Yet Gallus remained silent, looking pensive towards the unlit fireplace. After a while, Sandbar sighed and began shifting off the sofa to get glass in the kitchen.
“I wasn’t meant to see you that day.”
Sandbar turned back to Gallus, surprised and confused at what he had just said. Gallus’ visit back then was impromptu of how late it was, but that still left the question of how he planned to visit. “I had it all planned to visit you guys the following morning”, he explained, “but in Griffonstone, there was a fight, so my plans changed.”
The news surprised Sandbar, he heard about griffons having arguments at times, but this was the first he had ever heard about a fight. “How bad was it?” He couldn’t be sure how physical it was, as he could not recall Gallus appearing at his door with bruises or scratches.
“Nothing to cry about.” Gallus answered flatly, “I got better once I came here. Those doubts were from Griffonstone, but after the first term of the Academy, I knew it was worth it.” He tried to sound reassuring, but Sandbar had a fixed look of concern back at him. “Look, I want to get my issues from the last few weeks sorted, so… now you’ve heard it, you don’t need to be bothered by it.”
Although the air of concern stayed with Sandbar, a deal was a deal. “Okay, if you say so”, he responded.
“There were ponies who made fun of you for being friends with me?” Gallus followed up.
Sandbar nodded, “And Silverstream, Ocellus, Smolder, and it got worse after I asked Yona out… most of the time, they ask why I hang around you guys ’cause it’s weird, you know?”
“Anypony, I know? I can give them a word.”
Sandbar chuckled, “They’re long gone, not in Ponyville, at least. The newer students are a lot nicer, though….”
“You told anyone else about it, though?”
“Just my parents… and you.” He then remembered his little sister was still busy with her drawings on the floor. “Coral too… At some point, I’m going to tell Yona, but now I’m trying not to make her feel guilty about what she’s going through.”
“Ever think about what it’d be like if you weren’t friends with us?”
Sandbar briefly glanced towards the ceiling, tilting his head in thought. He thought back to all the times he hung out with his friends through the School of Friendship and their adventures and asked himself if he’d have those same adventures if his friends were ponies.
Instead, he shook it off with a slight chuckle. “Nah, where’s the fun in that?” he answered with a smile.
“Gallus?”
The two on the sofa perked up as they heard a new yet familiar voice in the room. They both turn around to see a large Yak had entered the room showing a look of surprise.
“Yona,” Gallus recognised immediately, though his heart stopped as he noticed her slowly move towards him. As he recalled how their last interaction didn’t go well, as well as Sandbar’s, He quickly leapt off the sofa and shifted himself to a more open space in the living room so he had an area to escape if need be prompt.
“Hey, look, I know you’re probably still mad with me, so before you do anything, let me say I’m so-”
Before he could finish his sentence, Yona had her hooves pressed on each side of Gallus, and Yona pulled him into her chest. She stuffed his face into her thick brown fur; his beak dug in, and he could not move, yet his ears heard the strange sound of sobbing.
“Yona’s sorry!” she wept as tears slowly dripped from her muzzle to the top of Gallus’ head, “Yona say mean things about Gallus and new friends. Yona thought Gallus was lying and didn’t want to be friends anymore.”
Unable to feel any relief from his friend’s tearful apology due to how smothered he was, Gallus used all his strength to free his head and gasp for air. “It’s okay. Gallus is sorry, too,” he exclaimed. “You were right to be upset with me, kinda.”
“You don’t need to beat yourself up, dude.” Sandbar interjected.
“Because of me, you were left in the dark, as was myself.” Gallus countered, acknowledging how long he had let the lack of contact go on. “Even if the Academy says it’s not gonna happen again, I’m not sure I can trust them on it.”
“Gallus can write more letters to Yona”, she offered, “Scythe writes good letters.”
“So… still friends?”
There was a moment where Sandbar and Yona looked at each other, the answer seemed so obvious after how apologetic and willing Gallus was to set things right, and they both smiled.
“Of course, dude, always.”
“Yona forgives, and Yona is sorry.”
Gallus was glad to have his friends back, two of them at least. It wasn’t long before he remembered that there were two more that he had to confront. “Well, guess I’ve got to face the others,” he said, bracing himself as he made his way out of the house.
“Yona, come with you to help.”
“No, it’s my problem to sort out”, Gallus asserted, with his arm out to stop Yona, yet there was but little resistance.
“Dude, we’re friends. We help each other.” Sandbar insisted, placing a hoof on the griffon’s back. “Besides, if it doesn’t work out today, you can sleep on our spare bed.”
Dusk was almost settling in as Gallus, Yona, Sandbar, and Coral all arrived at the large purple house. The flowers on the windows were blooming and colourful, the view of the school, castle, and mountainside all in clear view, just like last autumn.
Gallus took a long deep breath; as calm and settled as things were, he knew it was about to change the moment he met with whoever was on the other side of that house’s door. He alone walked up slowly and knocked on it three times.
He weighed his options if she answered the door, assuming the worst-case scenario. Smolder was known to be rough; escape would be his best option if he wanted to make it out without being burnt to a crisp or facing one of her rock-breaking punches.
Then again, Ocellus isn’t one to be underestimated, she might be the kinder and gentler of the group, but she still had those hidden changeling fangs, not to mention her ability to shapeshift into creatures larger than her petite body. She could easily shapeshift into a giant beast and squash him like a…
He then shook the worrying thoughts from his mind; he was overthinking it. Besides, if his worries had been genuine earlier, he would have gotten a pummelling from Yona. All he had to do was to be calm, maybe a little cautious, but at least don’t say anything stupid.
Suddenly the door clicked and slowly creaked open from the inside, and on the other end, a familiar-looking orange dragon emerged. She could see the blue griffon with Sandbar and Yona behind him and Coral peeking from Sandbar’s back. Recognition dawned on her face.
“Hey,” said Gallus in his best calm voice, even giving a slight wave.
Almost immediately, Smolder slammed the door shut in his face.
It stunned Gallus, and his heart sank. He didn’t expect the interaction to end so abruptly. “Well, that could have been worse,” he remarked, with little comfort that he didn’t get any physical scars. As he turned around, a yak met him face-to-face.
Not accepting Smolder’s response, she went up to the door and started banging on it with her stone-hard hooves. The constant banging rattled the door, but before her knocking could break the wood, the door swung open once again.
“Hey, stop banging on the door and leave. I’m not in the mood!” Smolder snapped at Yona, barely missing Yona’s hoof.
“No.” Yona bluntly refused. She then turned around and hoisted Gallus up by her hooves, with such ease as if he were as light as a stuffed animal and plonked him face to face with Smolder. “Griffon and dragon make up now”, the yak ordered.
Being put into a position where she couldn’t just shut the door, Smolder conceded. “About time you finally showed up,” she remarked, her arms folded as she leant on the doorframe and glared into Gallus’ eyes.
The griffon wasn’t sure what to say, but he knew this was the start of what he expected when he returned to Ponyville. And yet, it got worse.
“What’s going on down here?” another familiar voice called out from inside the house, and then a pale blue changeling emerged. “Oh… hey, Gallus,” said Ocellus with an air of concern as she locked eyes with Gallus.
“Is Gallus in trouble?” Coral whispered to Sandbar, witnessing the stare-off from Sandbar’s back.
“Kinda, Gallus used to send letters to Silverstream once a week, but then the letters stopped.”
“Yeah, stopped after Silverstream said she was going to meet you in Canterlot,” Smolder interjected.
Gallus was surprised, he remembered the letter where he awkwardly offered to meet up, but this was the first he heard that Silverstream responded. “She was…?”
“Yeah, except you didn’t show up, so ‘Cell and I had to deal with her crying on our shoulders all night.” Gallus’ heart sank; he remembered feeling hurt when none of them showed up when he went to the city of Canterlot, so the griffon could only imagine how to hurt Silverstream could have been when he didn’t, or more correctly, couldn’t.
“We all thought you pulled a prank on her, a cruel one even for my standards.”
“But I didn’t. I wouldn’t have known that Silver was going to Canterlot to see me because somepony was taking our letters.”
“To be fair to Gallus, that’s what he told Yona”, Ocellus added, trying to keep the dragon calm, “and Silverstream did get his letters eventually.”
“More than two weeks ago,” Smolder rebutted before returning to Gallus. “My shoulder could have avoided being cried on again if you didn’t take so long to fix it.”
“Well, I didn’t know the Academy hadn’t delivered my letters. I only found out thanks to Yona by chance,” Gallus said in his defence, gesturing to Yona about their encounter in Canterlot. “I just didn’t think, even with the way ponies treat me, that the Academy wouldn’t also get in the way of my friends.”
“Why would the Academy do that, though?”
“I’ve been trying to figure that out since I got these,” Gallus reached back into his bag and pulled out the bundle of Silverstream’s letters. “I can think of one reason….”
One by one, the gang looked at the floor sombrely, thinking of how ponies treated them differently, sometimes picked on them, feared them, and didn’t want to be their friends.
Yona decided the comfort she needed was picking Sandbar and Coral up and hugging them like teddy bears. “Wish more ponies like yaks….”
“But it’s not like the Royal Guard Academy or the postal service were messing with our letters before,” Smolder then pointed out, “what changed?”
With a clearer picture of what had gone on in Ponyville while he was away, Gallus paused for thought. “You said Silverstream replied to my letter asking to meet up in Canterlot, right?” he queried.
Sandbar nodded. “That’s right, and it was about… one week after you got on the train, and both of you said you lo- “
“I set my choices for the regiment that week, “Gallus interrupted as he felt a realisation that was not flustered feelings, “I told them I was aiming to go to Canterlot Palace or the Wonderbolts. Those two places have high expectations.”
Smolder raised an eyebrow, “So, you’re thinking they did this to stop you from getting into those places?”
“That does sound like a weird theory.” Ocellus added, tilting her head slightly.
“Yeah, a postal worker reading and taking my letters was a weird theory until we found out it was true, so I’m not ruling this one out.” Gallus countered.
“It’s not the first time somepony did something bad to make us look bad or the craziest.”
“Gallus then turned to Smolder, “I’m sorry I ignored you guys for so long. From now on, I will not let it happen again.” He then offered his claw to shake with the orange dragon. “Friends?”
Smolder continued to have her arms locked around her body as she stared at Gallus’ outstretched arm, still annoyed at what she had to put up with, even if she couldn’t shake off the fact it wasn’t entirely Gallus’ fault. What she needed was a bit more convincing.
“Come on, Smolds, I can forgive him, and you know you can, as well,” said Ocellus as she gently prodded the dragon.
“Not yet.” The dragon finally pushed herself off the side of the door, and with her arms still folded, she walked a few steps towards Gallus. He stood still and upright, with his arm outright and his best smile. The corner of Smolder’s mouth started to turn upwards, giving Gallus confidence that she would forgive as the others did.
It also left him unprepared for the surprise right hook that landed right into Gallus’ left shoulder, knocking him to the ground. “Now I can.”
It stunned everyone as Gallus pulled himself back to his hind paws with the arm that wasn’t aching. “I don’t know how that didn’t break…” he groaned while rubbing his bruised shoulder. If the rest could complain, Smolder’s reasonable excuse was that the aching arm was for the times Silverstream used her shoulder to cry on.
“Also, you need to own up to Silverstream,” Smolder then silently requested Ocellus by pointing to something inside the house. The request got Ocellus to snap out of her surprise as she quickly left the front door and returned, holding a pink envelope with her teeth, which Smolder picked out and handed over to Gallus. “She wanted you to read this; you’ll have to write to Mount Aris. She said she would be there for the rest of the holidays.”
Gallus took the letter. Outside of the new teeth marks, the letter was still clean, with fresh ink on the envelope. He had a good idea what the envelope contained. “I know. Silverstream told me when Gabby and Gilda paid a visit to the Academy,” he said.
“She did?”
He then turned to Sandbar, “I mentioned going on an Academy Adventure. Well, I’m going to Mount Aris, “to everyone else’s surprise. Except for Yona, who just smiled and nodded, she had helped the two birds communicate the planned visit for the last two weeks. “A letter isn’t enough, so I’m gonna make it up to her.”
“Do you think she’s gonna take it well?”
Gallus just returned with a smile of confidence.
“There’s only one way to find out….”